Notes for Sunday – May 17, 2015

On this day in 1769, George Washington launched a legislative salvo at Great Britain’s fiscal and judicial attempts to maintain its control over the American colonies. He brought a package of non-importation resolutions, drafted by George Mason, before the Virginia House of Burgesses. This initiated a chain of events that led to Britain’s House of Lords demanding that men involved in the extra-legal Massachusetts convention of towns be tried in England. Britain’s plan backfired and created an American identity where before there had been none.

Street Combat – This Ain’t No Game! – Part 6b of 9, by Pat Cascio

Hip Shooting

Whoa, partner! Before everyone starts firing letters off to me protesting that hip shooting isn’t point shooting, give me (and others) the benefit of the doubt! You have to admit that leveling a gun at someone from just above your holster isn’t exactly aimed shooting, is it? Neither is it exactly what we call point shooting. None the less, the technique is worth mentioning, as it does work in the tightest of combat situations. When your opponent is directly in front of you just about face-to-face or, worse yet, is face-to-face with you, you can’t draw and fully extend your arm, can you? I didn’t think so!

Now, there are some of those self-proclaimed “experts” out there who will claim that hip shooting doesn’t work, either. Well, God bless ’em, I guess they will never get into a situation where their assailant is right on top of them. In suppose that in the unlikely event this does happen, they’ll simply ask their assailant to step back so they can level their gun at them. Sure! If you’ve practiced point shooting for even a small amount of time as outlined above, you’ll have to agree the techniques described work!

You must purchase the video Shooting For Keeps. It’s available from Wells Creek Knife and Gun Works, 32956 State Hwy #38, Scottsburg, OR 97473 (541) 587-4202. This video was produced by Applegate and Paladin Press. It is must viewing for any serious point shooting fan. It puts to rest any misconceptions regarding the use of point shooting at close range.

Make no mistake, hip shooting is for contact distance, except for the rare professional, like the late Bill Jordan. If you can reach out and touch your opponent, then hip shooting is the only way to go. If your assailant is beyond contact distance, then point shooting is in order.

Depending on your skill level at point shooting and the distance involved, aimed shooting may be in order. Remember Dave Arnold’s comment that “aimed shooting is always better.” Of course, there will be those of you who will take Arnold’s comments out of context and claim that aimed shooting is the only worthwhile method of engaging a threat. If you missed Arnold’s comments about point shooting at the beginning of this chapter, go back now and read them!

In my discussion with Dave Arnold on point shooting, the topic of hip shooting did come up. Dave feels, as most professionals do, that hip shooting does have its place when your life is on the line, that being up close, contact distance. I know we have all seen the TV and movie westerns, where both good and bad guys simply leveled their guns at their intended target (living or inanimate) and fired, hitting them with regularity. That was only in “reel” life, NOT in real life!

There are two trains of thought regarding what constitutes hip shooting, and both are correct. No, I’m not getting wishy-washy on the subject. It’s just that both methods work, and both can be considered hip shooting. Many state police and local police departments still train (good for them) that you can draw your gun from the holster and place it directly on top of the holster, leveled at the threat. This cannot be anything but hip shooting, as the gun rests directly next to your hip.

Another technique that works is that the gun extends ever so slightly in front of the holster, just barely in front of your body. This technique also works.

Either of the above techniques work with a revolver; however, when using an autoloader, there is one slight change you MAY want to make. When firing an autoloader, the slide moves back and forth (as it is supposed to) if the gun is working properly. When this happens, the slide may contact your clothing and can result in a malfunction! You don’t need this in a gunfight. One technique I teach is to slightly cant or tilt your gun to the right, if you are a right-handed shooters, or slightly toward the left, if you’re a left-handed shooter. By doing this, the slides’ movement will clear your body and any loose clothing you may have on, like a coat, vest, or sweatshirt. Additionally, this allows empty shell casings to eject cleanly away from your body and will avoid any casings falling back into the gun’s action, thus tying it up with a major malfunction.

As mentioned earlier, distance is on the side of a trained gunman. If possible, back pedal from your threat, thus extending the gunplay distance and putting the advantage on your side. If you can safely do this, then hip shooting may not be necessary. Of course, there is always the “X” factor that you must expect in any situation. You may already be in a corner, against a wall, against a car or other unmovable object where you can’t backpedal.

Oh, you there. Yeah, the one who doesn’t believe hip shooting works. How do you propose to fire your gun now that you can’t extend your arm? Humm? That’s what I thought. You’ll simply ask your assailant to back up just a bit so you can fully extend your arm and take an aimed shot at them. Sure! If you believe this idiot’s line of thought, then I have some gorgeous oceanfront property for sale in Oklahoma; give me a call; I finance!

I know. It sounds like I’m getting silly from lack of sleep. Believe me, it’s no sillier than the man who doesn’t learn or practice point and hip shooting. If you honestly believe point shooting doesn’t work, then don’t bother reading any further, and please don’t waste your time carrying a handgun for protection of self or others.

Those of you who grew up in the 1950’s (like I did) will recall the TV series The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack as Prohibition Agent Eliot Ness. I don’t think a week went by when Ness didn’t get into one or two running gunfights, always coming out on top. The truth is that during his career in Chicago, Ness only recorded firing his handgun twice. That’s right, he fired just twice in the line of duty, missing both times! Don’t take my word for it. Get a copy of the book, The Untouchables by Eliot Ness himself and read it. While Ness did get into some hairy situations and could have used his gun more often, he didn’t.

You’re probably wondering where all this is leading. Ness’ training came from FBI ace Alexander Jamie, who was his brother-in-law. Ness became an expert shot at the Chicago Police pistol range. Now, folks in those days (at least in Chicago) weren’t trained in the point shooting method. Ness was trained in the use of aimed shooting, yet Ness missed both times he used deadly force! Would he have done any better using point shooting? I can’t say, and neither can anyone else. The point is that even expert shots tutored in aimed shooting miss their intended targets.

Statistics

Statistics prove that police officers involved in gunfights miss their intended targets at least 75% of the time! I know, some police departments have a higher hit ratio, but I’m taking a nationwide average, as reported to me by Col. Rex Applegate prior to his death. Applegate was known as the world’s leading authority on riot control, close combat handgun training, and probably without a doubt was the master of knife fighting. I, as well as many others, respect his findings, and much of what I read in the gun and law enforcement magazines back up these statistics.

Most gunfights take place within 21 feet (or less) and in dark or low-light conditions– when you can’t see your sights, anyway. Remember my story about shooting a burglar? It was very dark! This is when point or hip Shooting will pay off. I know, some of you are screaming that the use of tritium night sights aid in low-light or dark condition. I agree, to a slight degree! I would venture to say that most folks who have night sights installed on their handguns NEVER fire their guns in low-light or dark conditions. I can speak from the viewpoint of a firearms’ instructor.

Folks (police officers included) have attended some of my Tactical Handgun courses that require a night shoot. Those who have night sights installed on their guns can see their sights just fine. The only problem is, they can’t see their intended target! Their focus is fixed on the glowing front and rear sights; they are forever seen looking over their sights to locate their target, which is time consuming and deadly!

Don’t get me wrong; night sights have their use and are best used in low-light situations, when one has the time to take that all-important aimed shot. Most gunfights take place at up close, contact range in low-light conditions and with unexpected speed.

Will you have time to focus on your night sights and then locate your target? I doubt it! Given the above situation and circumstances, point or hip shooting is what works. Make no mistake about it.

Gunfighting History:

I find it almost impossible to believe that the gunmen of the past used aimed fire in anything except long distant shooting or carefully laid ambushes. Anyone remotely familiar with “antique” or old firearms’ design will readily agree that the sights on these firearms are akin to threading a needle or finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. To say that these sights are crude is putting it politely. Even some of the sights found on modern handguns are lacking in a usable sight picture.

Researching hundreds of Old West Gunfighters in Bill O’Neals’ classic text, Encyclopedia Of Western Gunfighters, one can conclude that very few gunfighters used their sights when lead starting flying. The one notable exception that stands out among all the rest is Wyatt Earp, who said, “The most important lesson I learned was the winner of gunplay usually was the one who took his time. The second was that, if I hoped to live on the frontier, I would shun flashy trick-shooting as I would poison.” At first look, it seems that Wyatt Earps’ words should be heeded. Still, further research into Earp’s career and a careful examination of his gunfights reveal some historical (little known) facts that many are not aware of. One of those facts are that there are zero killings directly attributed to Earp in his illustrious career as a lawman!

O’Neal records that controversial Old West figure, Wyatt Earp, was involved in four gunfights with no (read zero) killings recorded. Additionally, Earp “may” have been involved in five “possible” killings or assists! These possible killings were more than likely ambushes and the victims waylaid by Earp and/or unknown cohorts. Further reading into Earp’s largely fictitious life can be had by reading Dan L. Thrapps’ book(s) Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography. Both Thrapp and O’Neal are respected authors. Still, more importantly, they are historians who thoroughly research their material. Thrapp and O’Neal research old newspaper articles, county records and well-researched and authenticated books.

Looking back at Earp’s initial comments now, you may want to take what he said with a grain of salt. While Wyatt “may” have been fast on the draw and slow to shoot using aimed fire his real life records as opposed to the “reel” life exploits are quite another story. Take it for what it’s worth.

While it is true that many a man was gunned down in the Old West, many recorded gunfights simply didn’t take place the way Hollywood would lead you to believe. Many gunfights were nothing more than carefully laid ambushes or cold-blooded murders! Obviously, careful, aimed fire was employed during such goings-on. Recorded history reveals to us that most of the gunfights were not really gunfights. They were murders, or worse yet the victim was set up and the cards were stacked against them.

With court systems the way they were in frontier times, it is no wonder that so many men literally got away with murder! For the most part, most of the municipal and county judges had little or no training in the legal system. Many gunfights were a result of feuds between families or personal conflicts between individuals. When a corpse was found lying in the street or along the trail, everyone pretty much knew who did the killing. Sympathetic sheriffs and coroners usually ruled it a justifiable killing and no charges were brought against the murderer.

O’Neal describes close to 600 gunfights in his book. This is not to say these were the only shooting scrapes that occurred in the Old West, far from it! These reported gunfights are some of the more famous ones; they involved characters like the Earps, John Hardin, John Selman, Dallas Stoudenmire, Billy The Kid, Doc Holliday, Heck Thomas, and so forth. Many chance meetings in saloons, streets, on the trail, or other out of the way locations resulted in a goodly number of gunfights.

A chance meeting is pretty much what most police officers and civilians will run into today on our troubled streets, at the workplace, and at home. It would be nice if we could anticipate when a gunfight (and that’s what they are) will take place. We would all get inside an armored vehicle and shoot the largest firearm possible. Unfortunately, real life isn’t so simple. A chance meeting taking place, as Bill Jordan so aptly titled his book– No Second Place Winner is what happens in a real gunfight! You don’t come in second in a gunfight; you must prevail and come out first. As most chance meetings take place at extremely close range (21 feet or less), there simply isn’t time to draw your weapon, take a steady aim, and squeeze off that round. No! A chance meeting usually involves low-light, apprehension, surprise, close-in contact distances, and other “X” factors. Point shooting is what worked then, during change meetings, and it is what works today!

Col. Rex Applegate recalled several incidents during his tenure in Mexico and Central America (after WWII) when his life was on the line. Not wanting to reveal any details and respecting Applegate’s privacy, I will not go into any confidentiality here. Suffice to say, Applegate was involved in several gunfights, and he survived them! What worked? It was point shooting, of course!

Some of today’s self-appointed experts talk about tunnel vision, tachy-psyche effect, and other psychological things that take effect when you are involved in a gunfight. However, having been involved in such things as has many others (Applegate included), I can honestly say they didn’t experience any of the described effects. While I’m sure such things do occur, I largely believe much of this is a result of police administrators hype!

Remorse is another thing that you are supposed to feel when you shoot someone. Well, that’s fine and dandy, if you really do feel that way. It’s also fine and dandy if you feel invigorated because you bested the other man and you are alive because of it! Self-defense situations are just that; they are self defense. You didn’t bring it on, you tried to avoid it, but the other person caused their own death because of their actions. In effect, he killed himself, and you were simply the vehicle that brought this about.

The book Unrepentant Sinner, written by Col. Charles Askins, chronicles his career over half a century in law enforcement and in the military. In the good Colonel’s book, it seems like he is killing someone every other page or so. While Askins may have his detractors (especially in the Texas law enforcement community), he none-the-less is famous for the many gunfights in which he participated. While many of Askins’ battles took place in circumstances that allowed use of the sights, just the same, he had close encounters of the unfriendly kind that called for a fast draw and use of point shooting methods.

Real Pioneers:

Captains W.E. Fairbairn and E.A. Sykes wrote a dandy little book entitled Shooting To Live (Paladin Press, P.O. Box 1307, Boulder, CO 80306 303-443-7250) that details point shooting. For those of you new to the shooting fraternity, Fairbairn was the late Assistant Commissioner of the Shanghai Municipal Police force and Sykes was the late Officer in Charge of Sniper Units with the same police force. Shanghai was touted as the toughest city in the world in the 1930’s. Its streets were ruled by gangs, rapists, terrorists, kidnapers, and every kind of scum you can think of. It kind of sounds like any metropolitan city in America today, doesn’t it?

By their own actual records, both Fairbairn and Sykes were in over 200 incidents where violent close combat occurred. Their training techniques and methods were further proved in the Commando and Special Intelligence branches of both the British and United States services in WWII. These men had actually seen the elephant and lived to tell about it, and they hadn’t done it just once or twice but hundreds of times! Their methods were adopted, and improved upon, by Col. Rex Applegate and taught to the OSS during WWII. Applegate didn’t obtain his standing in the military and law enforcement communities by heaping poor training on the troops and law officers. No, these methods and techniques worked then, and they still work today.

One fairly obscure and long out-of-print text entitled Triggernomentry by Eugene Cunningham was brought to my attention by Applegate. Eugene Cunningham had the opportunity to personally interview some of the Old West gunfighters while writing his book. I was surprised to find that slapping leather (fast draw) did actually take place more than we are led to believe. Six-shooters were held at hip level, and shots were accurately delivered, time and time again by a method of point shooting. Cunningham’s 30 odd years of listening and study and nine years of writing and revising has afforded him a position of a western historian and outstanding authority on the subject of Old West gunfights. Cunningham’s research only mirrors that of Thrapp and O’Neal, with the exception of going into greater detail on certain gunfighters.

I could recount other numerous gunfights that took place where the winner was the one who used point shooting. However, I would be redundant. Obtain the books (and videos) I mentioned in this chapter, read for yourself about real gunfights. Rarely, very rarely, will you read about the “winner” taking a “bead” or using aimed shooting in a gunfight. If you want to survive a gunfight, you’d better learn point shooting. I have to agree with Dave Arnold that “aimed shooting is always better” (when you can use it).

I want to include some comments I received from Dave Arnold that were used in my book, Put ‘Em Down With Point Shooting, because I believe they are important to you, the reader.

Arnold’s Comments:

“Two additional points I must make, which I discussed on the phone (with you). First, the point shooting method I use, except where the gun is discharged from hip level at very close range, is little different from my aimed shooting style!

The gun is pushed out at shoulder level; the only difference being that I am looking at the target, not at the sights. To aim, all I do is drop my head and the sights come into view. The value of this method is that it supplements aimed shooting by having the gun and sights pretty much on target. So, if you do aim, the sights are pretty much lined up, because you have practiced point shooting.

The other point I must make is that I believe it is possible to aim at close quarters, especially if you are not surprised and know that you are about to be involved in a shooting. SWAT teams are a good example, because they know they are going into a possible shooting. I think you also can aim if you have the drop on an assailant.

Point shooting works best at close range when you are surprised and cannot use the sights because of poor light.

If you can aim, however, then do so, as this is the best way to go. Don’t become tied down and say I have to point shoot because I am only four yards from my attacker and I have to aim because I am 10 yards away. Use whatever is best under the circumstances.

Point shooting is only part of my flexible approach to combat shooting, namely being able to shoot effectively from a variety of positions, which means being able to use one hand and also point shoot, if needed. Hope this helps.” – Dave Arnold

Author’s Comments:

In regard to the legendary and oftentimes controversial, Wyatt Earp, I have some comments. While much has been written about Earp, one point that Dave Arnold brought up in one of our phone conversation is this. While some detractors feel much of Earp’s claim to fame is pure hype, it must be brought to the reader’s attention that Earp was good friends with the likes of legendary (and respectable) lawmen like Heck Thomas and Bill Tilghman. Surely these credible characters of the Old West wouldn’t have associated with the likes of Earp had there not been a great deal of truth to Earp’s escapades!

I believe that Wyatt Earp probably faced down many of his opponents in gunfights or would-be gunfights. Remember, earlier in this book that I mentioned the intimidation factor of a firearm as well as the willingness to use it. Earp probably fell into this category and intimidated many of his would-be killers, and they backed down!

Before closing this chapter, I want to mention holsters and ammunition for your self-defense handgun. No handgun is of any worth if it isn’t properly carried on your person and loaded with the proper ammunition. You can’t rely on the old Tex-Mex method of carrying a handgun in your waistband. Nor should you trust your handgun to a pant or coat pocket. A good holster is a must!

You are reading this because you wanted to hear my recommendations about street combat and how to survive deadly encounters. So, I reckon you are also interested in knowing about the gear I use. So, with that said, here it goes.

I can purchase and use just about any type of holster out there. Some are real cheap and others are overly priced (in my opinion). What I carry most of my handguns in are holsters by Michaels of Oregon “Uncle Mike’s.” I’ve already listed their address and phone number above. I want to mention that I am not paid to endorse their products. They do send me their products for testing and evaluation. I have found that they have a holster to suite just about all of my needs. The best part is that their holsters (and accessories) are very reasonably priced and last a very long time.

As to ammunition, there’s an unlimited variety to pick and choose from. You can get anything from low-priced surplus ammo for practice to high-priced custom ammo. All of my self-defense needs are met by a small ammunition manufacturer– Black Hills Ammunition, P.O. Box 3090, Rapid City, SD 57709 (605) 348-5150. Black Hills is owned and operated by Jeff Hoffman. Jeff is a former law enforcement officer, and he knows what is needed in a self-defense round.

All of my self-defense guns are stoked with Black Hills Ammunition. Compared to some of the other lines of ammo, Black Hills is priced right, too. You get personalized service, good prices, and reliable ammo. What more can you ask for?

Now, while there’s many other holster and ammunition companies out there, I have chosen to list only Michaels of Oregon and Black Hills Ammunition because these are the products I use on a regular basis. Other companies offer similar products, and their quality is top-notch as well, but for my money it’s tough to beat Michaels of Oregon for holsters and Black Hills Ammunition for price and quality.

Remember, this is Street Combat – This Ain’t No Game!

Letter Re: Digital Security

Hello from Russia!

This Friday, SurvivalBlog mentioned “Digital Security- Part 2, by Dakota”. As a computer specialist and a paranoiac, I must warn you about two things.

  1. Bitmessage is absolutely secure. (I mean that nobody can read an encrypted message or find the sender or recipient or fact of communication between them.) But the price of this fact is too high and is a security hole by itself:

    Bitmessage client sends your message to every other client. What does it mean? In reality, every client would receive all the traffic the system creates. If, say, every one of 100 users sends one 10-kbyte message per day, then everyone would receive 1 MByte. Just 100,000 users would generate 1 GByte each. Also, as I can understand from their FAQ, the system finds connecting nodes automatically, so the adversary knows all the nodes.

    So while the network is small enough the adversary could assume that every node is under suspicion and has enough resources to check all of them, but a big enough network would fall under its own weight.

    I see two possible resolutions of this problem; one is use of some variants of Kademlia to route the mail to the nodes that are nearer in Kademlia meaning, and the second one is just I2P.

  2. MailPile security is not better than, say, Thunderbird configured to delete messages from the server since the official server may be (and often is) officially required to retain your letters for some period.

    I see only one possible resolution of this problem if a standard e-mail protocol is used: install your own encrypted Sendmail on your own computer and ask your friends to do the same. But it still does not save you from metadata collection. (They know who writes to you.)

Best wishes. A.

Odds ‘n Sods:

The recent train wrecks, including the Amtrak derailment, has brought rail safety to the attention of many preppers. Are your preps sufficient to cover the dangers of rail near your location? Do you even know what those dangers are? 10 things railroads won’t tell you

o o o

To Smell the Putrid Smell of a City on Fire

o o o

8th Grader Arrested, Threatened with Beatings and Held for 6 Days in Jail – For Throwing Skittles. – H.L.

HJL adds: This is beyond absurd. At what point will we see the police officers voice Bill Whittle’s words: “No, Sir, I will not obey that order!”

o o o

4 Minute Video: Ann Corcoran on Refugee Resettlement. – H.L.

o o o

When Times Get Hard. – B.B.

Notes for Saturday – May 16, 2015

SurvivalBlog just successfully weathered our fourth hack attack in the past five years. A reminder, folks: You need to bookmark and/or write down our two prominent dotted quad addresses. Why? Because far greater malice on the Internet might someday be perpetrated by the Hitlery Clintons of the world, who could direct their bureaucratic minions to steal domain names from their rightful owners, all in the name of “fairness”. I can anticipate something far worse than the pranks of a few malicious hackers: That would be a deranged government doing horrible things to our First Amendment rights under color of law, with little remedy or recourse.

Also be prepared to distribute the archived content of blogs and blogs physically with your family and friends via DVD or memory sticks, because some of your favorite web sites might disappear, overnight. Consider these countermeasures just another aspect of preparedness. For now, the threats may seem distant, but they are real. – JWR

o o o

Today, we present another entry for Round 58 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  3. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools, and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  4. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul pmags 30rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt. (An equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions.),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  7. A Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $340 value),
  8. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  9. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  10. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, and
  12. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. Acorn Supplies is donating a Deluxe Food Storage Survival Kit with a retail value of $350,
  4. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  5. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  6. Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  7. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate, and
  8. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. *Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  6. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Y-Shot Slingshot and a Locking Rifle Rack (a $379 value), and
  8. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 58 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Optimizing Training for the Committed Prepper, by F.M.

Almost everyone who reads this column knows that most Americans are woefully unprepared to face a post-poop hits the fan, WOTROL, grid down world. Equally sad and dangerous is the fact that most in the prepping community fall into one of the following categories:

  1. Someone who thinks about prepping and sees the need but hasn’t really gotten started,
  2. Someone who buys a lot of “stuff” but doesn’t really know what to do with it, or
  3. Someone who has “stuff” and reads a lot of books and columns on prepping but still hasn’t tried to live it.

I suppose that even the best prepared among us has gone through these steps but at some point you has realized that “having” and even “knowing how” are trumped by actually “doing”. Although no one can be totally prepared for whatever lies ahead, I have been able to make some pretty good progress over the last decade or so and would like to share my experience in hopes that it will help or inspire others.

First I must give credit where it is due. My late father was a great teacher and example. He had served with the Marines in Korea during the early 50’s and was decorated for bravery under fire. Growing up under him was fairly simple. You were expected to do what was right and not whine about hardship, period. He was kind and loving, but he would not compromise on expectations. Also, he was a gun collector, and for a time he held a federal firearms dealer’s license. I started shooting at four years old with lots of exposure to World War II-era rifles and uncompromising emphasis on safety. I also seemed to have had an endless supply of surplus ‘web gear’ for hiking and camping. The smell of musty canvas still triggers warm memories.

The other component of my solid prepper base was my participation in high school sports. I was not a gifted athlete. In fact, I started out in freshmen football undersized, slow, and without the hands of a receiver. So, by default, those factors made me a second string lineman. I found that the only meaningful thing that I could do to improve was work on strength and endurance. Through weight training and running, I was able to become an acceptable participant in football, wrestling, and track; the significance and relevance of this will soon be apparent.

Fast forward a couple of decades. It was during the Carter years that I became convinced that there was no way for our society to bail out of the growing debt and foreign entanglement without some serious turmoil. (I honestly never thought that we could make it this far.) My biggest challenge was financing. I had a growing family, a mid-level engineering job, and no hope of moving to a retreat in the western Rockies. Back then, it was hard to even lay aside money for a few extra groceries. Instead, I concentrated on acquiring skills, any skills that might better my chances of protecting and providing for my family. Gardening, burning wood as our primary heat source, and keeping venison in the freezer became second nature. Also key was the fact that I never lost sight of the lesson regarding personal fitness. Working out was a priority, even when it had to be balanced with the kid’s activities and a job that included a fair amount of travel. There were many times when running was done by moonlight or I had to settle for pushups in a motel room, but anything was better than nothing. If the motel had a fitness room, that was so much the better. Over time, there were coworkers who had martial arts experience. We worked out together. All three of my sons wrestled in high school, and assisting dads were welcomed at practice. For ten years, that was a source of fitness and skills improvement, while at the same time I was helping kids develop.

Meanwhile at work, I never missed a chance to pick up training that the company provided. Everything from First Aid and CPR to Personal Finance and Electrical Troubleshooting were eagerly taken. I had worked up to a level where my income was pretty comfortable, and then the bottom fell out. First the dotcom bubble burst, and then 911 hit. The sector I was working in was severely impacted, and I was downsized out after 22 years with the same company. Since then, I’ve worked for five different employers. Of those, two have gone out of business completely, and one has withdrawn all operations from my state. My income has gone from over $70,000 per year to my current job that pays a little under $13/hour. Yes, from my perspective, we are in a depression. Manufacturing jobs are all but gone in our part of the country. Public sector jobs are seen as the “good ones”. Few seem to question how we can continue to fund public sector spending when the private sector is so depressed.

However, it isn’t all negative. During the three times I’ve been on unemployment, I’ve had the chance to expand out into new areas. I became an NRA-certified instructor for Basic Pistol and Basic Shotgun. I worked on my self-defense skills and became a certified anti-rape instructor. I now teach, part time, for a local self-defense business, and that has opened the door for me to take multiple classes in Tactical Rifle, Shotgun and Pistol, and further unarmed training. More importantly, teaching these skills is the best way to master these skills. They go on trial every time you demonstrate a technique and every time you pull a trigger. If you want to get really good at something, teach it to others.

Another life-changer for me was when I joined our local ambulance corpse. After a short time as a driver, they then paid for me to get my EMT certification. With that has come a great deal of experience in dealing with both illnesses and traumatic injuries. Not only am I growing in my knowledge of how to handle medical emergencies, I have been tested under pressure. I know that I can deal with life-threatening injuries, because I’ve done it. I’ve looked at death, performed CPR for well over half an hour on a patient who didn’t make it, and I walked away knowing that we all performed to the best of our ability and there was no lingering guilt or regrets. It isn’t combat, like what my dad experienced, but I think that it’s the next closest thing.

Finally, there are some other side benefits from the above experiences that should not be omitted. Both the defensive training and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) have made me familiar with other emergency workers, ie. firemen and police. I think that it is a good thing to be seen as one of the good guys. Training with various law enforcement personnel reminds them that civilians with guns can be a good thing. One becomes a familiar face. We become part of the same fraternity. This is true of the other relationships developed in everything written above. I still have contact with some of the guys I played sports with over 40 years ago. Same with the kids I helped coach become county and sectional wrestling champs. My shooting fraternity and my EMS family are almost as close as my church family. It is this network of people and skills that I hope and expect to draw together as times become more challenging. This essay was written in the first person because I truly wanted it to be personal and inspire those who need to get moving to start actually doing skill-based preparation for the hard times that are coming. Good luck and God bless.

Letter Re: Reverse Mortgage

Hugh-

I wanted to know what you and/or Jim’s and/or The Econocobas’ opinion is of reverse mortgages. The missus and I have moved to the Redoubt and own our location outright. I was mentally extrapolating the possible outcomes of a reverse mortgage should the balloon go up, but I always value other people’s thoughts. Also, forgive me if this has been addressed previously. – D in Southern Idaho

HJL Responds: I have never considered reverse mortgages, as I always considered the land worth something but the cash out value as a loss due to inflation. Call me old fashioned, but a reverse mortgage allows you to cash out the equity of your home and generally draw on it as a retirement wage. It is somewhat of a gamble, as no one really knows just how long you will live. So, the bank may end up paying out more than it is worth, or more likely, they will pay out less than it is worth. In the end, the short time I looked at them, there wasn’t anything to pass on to your children (unless you passed on some of the regular draws). It wasn’t right for me, so I didn’t spend much time on it. I did send your request on to Mr. Econocobas though.

Mr. Econocobas Responds: The issue of reverse mortgages or even just mortgages is an interesting one, and I have been doing some considerable thinking on it myself. I don’t know that I have a perfect answer for you, but let’s just look at the issues (from an economic standpoint) that will help you make the decision. What we are really talking about is debt, and in this case it’s debt that is based in U.S. dollars. Without getting too far in the giggleweeds on the causes and reasons for why there is such things as inflation and deflation, we can say with certainty they exist. Unless your question is regarding whether anybody will even be there to collect your debt, your concern is inflation or deflation and the effects on your debt they might have.

It is my belief that we are structurally in a depression from years of central bank and government-driven bubble economics that stole prosperity out of the future (which is now) to consume and expand in the present (now in our past). Depression is by its very nature deflationary. However, the debt based fiat currency system we are under (run of the Federal Reserve) literally cannot have deflation, it will collapse because it requires every expanding supply of currency to pay the debt. So we have central bank policy that is highly inflationary, Zero Interest Rate Policy (or ZIRP) and now in some other countries Negative Interest Rate Policy (or NIRP), and we also have debt monetization (money printing or quantitative easing to sound less benign). So in effect they are fighting deflation with inflation. I say all this to lay the ground work on the inflation vs deflation argument. In theory in a deflationary environment, debt based in the deflating currency is harder and more costly to repay. In theory in an inflationary environment debt based in the currency will be easier and less costly to repay. So what is it, what will we have? Well, again I said in my opinion we are in a depression, and what we need is to let the market actually function, clearing mal investment and allow the economy to restructure, which at this point will be a very painful process. However, as mentioned, banks will collapse under deflation, so they are only going to tolerate so much deflation that under the auspices of “saving the economy” they will pursue even more highly inflationary policies. In the end I think we will continue to get seesawed with deflation and inflation, with each pass those waves get bigger and finally the inflationary wave will wipe out any confidence in the dollar.

So back to the mortgage, if I believe that inflation will ultimately destroy the value of the dollar then I should answer to get the reverse mortgage and take the money now and the debt will be wiped out in inflation. However, I don’t see it playing out that easy. I think debt could wipe you out in the seesaw action of deflation and inflation. I would also never put it past government and large banks to rewrite any contacts under emergency powers, or many other possibilities. It is my belief that the best policy to be debt free and owning things outright (obviously property tax laws throw a wrench in that), and admire your position of owning your home outright. I wish I could say the same right now.

Economics and Investing:

House of Cards – Will It Collapse?

“It is unwise to scramble in front of an oncoming steam-roller in search of dollar bills when real money, gold and silver, is still available at “bargain” prices.” – Gary Christenson

o o o

Capital Controls, Gold Confiscation, Bank Holidays, and Everything Else

o o o

You can’t afford to live in California: It would take the typical family 35 years just to save for a 20 percent down payment in San Francisco.

o o o

U.S. Farmers In “Dire Straits”: JPM Warns Of Imminent Liquidity Crunch

Odds ‘n Sods:

I spent a few hours today watching some reruns of “Doomsday Preppers” on Netflix and was struck by a common thread I saw. Granted, television’s job is to garner ratings and this show seems to do that by ridiculing preppers, but the point is valid nonetheless. Physical fitness seems to be a sadly overlooked prep. How Does 1960s High School PE Compare to Today? It Doesn’t. – HJL

o o o

Sadly, it is true that history often echos itself: The Vatican Against the Jews

o o o

A good grounding article for your communication preps. – RBS

o o o

From the Desk of Mike Williamson, SurvivalBlog Editor At Large: Border patrol stop – language warning

o o o

What law says the text of the TPP must remain secret?. – RBS

Notes for Friday – May 15, 2015

Mad Max: Fury Road opens today. It looks very high octane!Today, we present another entry for Round 58 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  3. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools, and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  4. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul pmags 30rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt. (An equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions.),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  7. A Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $340 value),
  8. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  9. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  10. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, and
  12. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. Acorn Supplies is donating a Deluxe Food Storage Survival Kit with a retail value of $350,
  4. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  5. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  6. Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  7. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate, and
  8. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. *Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  6. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Y-Shot Slingshot and a Locking Rifle Rack (a $379 value), and
  8. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 58 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Digital Security- Part 2, by Dakota

Secure Email (continued)

Public key encryption works like this: you have two keys– a public key and a private key. Your public key is just that; it’s something you share with the public. Think of it as more of a padlock though. When someone wants to send you an email, they lock it with this padlock. No one along the way can see what’s inside the email (not even your email provider). When you want to read the email you use your private key just like you would use a literal key to unlock, or rather decrypt, the message. Your private key is a carefully guarded string of numbers on your computer protected by a password. Enigmail makes this system easier by doing the work for you. It generates a set of keys for you, and it stores the private one. To decrypt messages, simply enter your password. Adding other people’s public keys is a bit more complicated. You can either have them emailed to you as an ASC file or given to you in person via USB thumb drive, or you can copy them off of the Internet if they’re posted publicly. A tutorial is available online at.

That’s all a bit complicated, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a way to automate all of this completely? Thankfully, there is. I’m sure you’ve at least heard of Bitcoin before, but did you know there is a similar system for messaging? My favorite electronic communication medium is Bitmessage. It’s incredibly simple to use. There’s also an excellent tutorial. Consider this the preferred way for your group to communicate electronically.

Another option that somewhat automates encryption is MailPile. MailPile was coded by a group of Icelandic cryptographers and is a mid-step between hosting your own email and just using an email client. If you have a Raspberry Pi (or are willing to buy one for $35) that you can always leave on, this is a worthy consideration. Again, because of hardware constraints, I haven’t been able to test it out, but I corresponded extensively with the team. MailPile is like Thunderbird, only it can be accessed from other computers by providing a personal webmail. This webmail comes from a device you host, so it requires a computer (Raspberry Pi is a great option) that always has power and is always on in order to be used remotely. This option is extraordinarily convenient for when you’re away from your home computer but still want or need to encrypt your email.

Internet Add-on Software

Firefox is great on its own, but there are ways to make it more secure. This is accomplished via add-on software, which is written by people other than Firefox, that adds functionality to the browser. First on the list is Abine’s Blur (formerly DoNotTrackMe). This add-on has many features if you pay for them, but the free ones are awesome, too. The one I use the most is the email masking, where Blur adds an email on forms. This email will forward to your email, and you can turn it off if the company spams you. Abine also has an app for this. Blur will also generate passwords for you, but I haven’t ever used this. I prefer to come up with my own passwords. They’re easier to remember that way, plus a third party doesn’t know them. (Here is a hint on passwords. An easy way to come up with strong passwords is with gun terms; for example, Win.300m@g.) If you’re willing to pay for it, Blur will also mask credit card and phone numbers. Since I haven’t had need of this yet, I haven’t tried either of these services.

Another add-on is Hide My Ass Proxy. This add-on will proxy your Internet traffic through an off shore server, thereby hiding your location and identity. It’s like a lighter, weaker version of TOR. Ad Blocker Plus is another one I use, simply because it blocks most annoying pop-up ads, almost all of which are malware.

Lightbeam is another extremely helpful add-on. It monitors what external sites the websites you visit, connect to, and share your information with. It’s quite eye opening and can be used to convince others about the need to improve privacy online.

HTTPS Everywhere is an add-on that forces websites to use encrypted connections when available. For Thunderbird, there is TorBirdy, which routes your email traffic through TOR. This would be great, but every time I’ve tried it, it has made Thunderbird stop working. I currently have the add-on but keep it disabled.

General Computer Security Tips

Now I’d like to offer some general tips to help maintain your online privacy and security. All the software in the world won’t make up for any security mistakes you make. As former FBI most wanted hacker Kevin Mitnik says, “Humans are the weakest link in any security system.” First, use common sense when you fill out forms. Ask yourself, “Does this person/organization really need this information?” If the answer is no, don’t give it to them. Don’t reveal your address, real name, or certainly your birthday (I can’t think of very many legitimate reasons anyone needs this). If you need to supply an email address, hop over to www.getairmail.com or a similar service and use a temporary email (or Blur). I’ve used this method to download nearly fifty different survival books in PDF format without giving away my email address. If you create a social media profile (though I recommend you don’t), use a pseudonym. This will prevent future employers from simply Googling you and perhaps discriminating against you for your political or religious beliefs. It can also afford you a bit of plausible deniability, if your employer or anyone criticizes you for something you posted. Additionally, now you can’t be friended or followed by people you may not want to be associate with online. Don’t click on suspicious ads. Before you go to a URL, make sure you typed it in correctly. For YouTube especially, there are several malware sites that use URLs like yuotube.com and youtbue.com. Log out of your accounts every time you close your browser, and don’t leave your browser up all night. Put your computer in airplane mode when you don’t need the Internet. Use long passwords (sixteen characters minimum) that include letters, numbers, capitals, and symbols. If you can, also include punctuation. For passwords that protect banking information or anything else particularly valuable, don’t use combinations based on anything in the dictionary. In this case, even something like tH^s-iSS&meye, stRONG@paSS%ord aren’t good enough. A really strong password resembles a Bitcoin address with symbols: lfmT6!77djLw84$(dkYY6v#14StiLmOp. Clear your cookies and cache frequently. Always update everything on your computer. Even though it may not say so, most updates include security fixes. A common tactic among hackers is to find computers that are running un-updated software and use well-known attacks without having to do any work. When you see that bubble announcing an update, click it and update immediately!

For mobile security, realize that you give up a lot of privacy when you buy a mobile phone. The best thing to do is to buy a pay-as-you-go phone and never store any contacts on it. Don’t attach it to your email, and preferably get one that you can easily remove the battery from. Try to get one that flips and only has a number pad. Not only will this remove the temptation to check your email or surf the web, you’re less likely to get robbed for your phone. Note that any anonymity that you have is ruined the moment someone else stores your name and number as a contact in their phone. Good luck trying to convince people not to put you in their contacts.

After a cheap pay-as-you-go phone, my next recommendation is at the opposite end of the spectrum. Blackphone is designed specifically to foil the NSA and is produced by Silent Circle– a service that voluntarily shut down their email service rather than reveal their customers’ information to the NSA. They are also now part of the Darkmail team. Communication between Blackphone users is encrypted, including calls and texts. They also have features that let the users know if their communication is being monitored.

As far as run of the mill smartphones go, Android (being open source) is better than iOS. Yes, Android is owned by Google, but it was open source before that and can still be turned into a rather secure mobile OS. I have never owned an Android phone though, so I can’t offer specific tips. There are many tip available at the following this website.

iOS is strictly the property of Apple and thus extraordinarily vulnerable to government surveillance. There is a little bit you can do. Get the DoNotTrack app and the ChatSecure App. While you’re at it, get 2nd Vote– an app that grades companies by their political stances. While not security related, they allow you to make informed purchases. Use OperaMini instead of Safari. It is owned by a Norwegian software company and will also save you money by using less bandwidth. Be sure to turn off ad tracking: Settings > General > About > Advertising. Reset your advertising identifier while you’re at it. If you must stick with Windows, I have some advice. First, Windows 7 is preferable to Windows 8 for a variety of reasons. Security is better on Windows 7, and the user interface of Windows 8 just stinks. Also, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (a group that works to improve digital security and privacy) and Amnesty International teamed up to design software to scan Windows computers for malware known to be used by government surveillance organizations (and hackers, as well). I highly recommend Detekt.

As for wifi modems, I prefer to buy from Cisco, since they openly and proactively work to prevent the NSA from compromising their users’ privacy.

A few of my readers may have noticed that I didn’t mention encrypting the entire hard drive. Previously, I would have mentioned this and recommended TrueCrypt, a now defunct open source encryption software. Unfortunately, last year the developers of TrueCrypt released a mysterious letter saying that TrueCrypt could no longer be trusted, and that they would no longer be releasing periodic updates. It is widely believed that the NSA pressured them into quitting. Since it was open source, hopefully someone will take up the baton, but this has not yet happened to my knowledge. I have not been able to find and review an appropriate open source alternative.

I would like to again repeat that even after implementing all or some of these steps, you are not immune to the NSA. If they choose to single you out, they will succeed. Never store on a computer any extremely sensitive information that you wouldn’t want the government (or anyone else) to know. Once it’s on a computer, there is a chance, however small, that it can be retrieved, even if you attempt to delete it or destroy your hard drive. Physically write down (or better yet, just memorize) your prepping checklists and plans. Also, remember that everything described in this article is only secure until someone finds a way around it. In Christ and Liberty.

Letter Re: A Decade of Prepping

Hugh,

I absolutely agree with the dedicated wife in what she wrote in ”A Decade of Prepping, Do’s and Dont’s” that women are an integral part of being prepared. Farm women are very hard to find, even for me (a woman) to be friends with. I spent several years living in a city and didn’t understand why I never fit in with my city friends. Then I found a mentor, an older Christian lady who was married to a farmer, who explained to me that I wasn’t wired to be a city girl; I was wired to be a farm girl. I got to thinking after that that she was right. I had wanted to be a farm girl since I was about 10 years old and read The Little House on the Prairie books. I grew up in the city on a small house lot, so we couldn’t have a milk cow, but we always raised a pretty big garden. I always dreamed of being able to grow/raise all our own food. Then I grew up and left home and went to college and got a house in the city, but I was never satisfied. Then I met this farm wife who mentored me and helped me to meet a good Christian, conservative farmer who wanted to be self sufficient. I am not a society woman. My hair isn’t perfect, my nails are torn and dirty, my clothes are generally work clothes with tears, glue, and paint stains from fixing fences, and painting or gluing random things. I’m out working, getting us prepared. I fully embrace homesteading for the sake of being prepared. I absolutely love this dirt. I love my chickens and bees and milk cow and garden. I love having lots of canning jars and having them full. I love sewing and woodworking, finishing, or painting. It’s what I was always wired to do. I got it from my dad, a farm kid who got stuck in the city. He always wanted a farm of his own. He is looking down from heaven now and so proud of my life. It’s true that many women are not into all this. I know I’m weird, but I also know that there are a few other women out there like me who love the dirt and want to be a homemaker and homesteader and get their hands dirty. They are total misfits in today’s society because they are the old school farm wife. Along my journey I met a few of them, including my aunt, who is another farm wife. I was always jealous of her growing up because she had her own raw milk from her own goats and she had lots of room for fruit trees and a garden. She also didn’t wear fancy clothes, and her nails were always short and jagged, but to me, she was so beautiful. There was a strength in her that I always envied. She could cook food so good you’d never want to quit. After I was grown, I was tall and ungraceful like her, and kind of had a complex about it. Then I’d remember her and feel much better. Those are the women who are written about in Proverbs 31. They are the saints who bear the children and raise them to be pillars in our society. They are the ones who will change this world from the inside out. If the men in our world would hold their standards higher to have women that are godly and not concerned about worldly standards, women would naturally seek to please them. Women want to please their men, but you can’t change them very well once you marry them. The man has to know the kind of woman he wants when he is courting. Don’t get me wrong; God works miracles in people’s lives everyday, changing them to be the people He needs them to be, but it’s difficult to change in a relationship. – A.R.